I'll start with a quote from the Sound Stage June 2001 review of the M40, "The M40Ti is more or less the M3Ti grown to reach the floor, which accomplishes two goals: You don’t need stands, and as a result of the greater cabinet volume, there’s significantly greater bass extension and overall output capability."

After reading this review I am considering purchasing an Epic 40 system minus the EP175 sub. Removing the sub would take the Epic 40 package price down to about the same as the Epic Midi that I was already looking at. The bass extension of the M40's would seem to allow them to almost reach the same lows as the EP125 sub included with the Epic Midi system.

Does this make any sense at all? Would I be giving up much by going with this setup versus the Epic Midi?

You would have enough bass with this system but you would not be utilizing your sub out on your receiver, so this information would be lost. If you are mainly music listening then this will not be that big of an issue, but for movies a sub would be recommended. You could add it later if you feel you need it for your desired performance.